EP1837645B1 - Sensor für thermische Leitfähigkeit - Google Patents

Sensor für thermische Leitfähigkeit Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1837645B1
EP1837645B1 EP07251159.5A EP07251159A EP1837645B1 EP 1837645 B1 EP1837645 B1 EP 1837645B1 EP 07251159 A EP07251159 A EP 07251159A EP 1837645 B1 EP1837645 B1 EP 1837645B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
measure
base
sensor according
sections
sensing element
Prior art date
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EP07251159.5A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP1837645A3 (de
EP1837645A2 (de
Inventor
Martin Picton Lopez
James Hobby
Bahram Alizadeh
Richard P. Kovacich
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Servomex Group Ltd
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Servomex Group Ltd
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N25/00—Investigating or analyzing materials by the use of thermal means
    • G01N25/18—Investigating or analyzing materials by the use of thermal means by investigating thermal conductivity

Definitions

  • K P A dT dx
  • P the power dissipated through thermal conductivity
  • dT/dx the thermal gradient with distance between the two surfaces.
  • thermal conductivity of a fluid is to measure the power required to maintain a defined thermal gradient where A is known and the other loss mechanisms are defined. K can also be measured in the time domain where the thermal gradient is changing with time.
  • the change in the thermal conductivity with fluid composition for binary or pseudo-binary mixtures can also be used to determine the concentration of the components, provided that the components have different thermal conductivities and that the system has been calibrated or that the component thermal conductivities are known.
  • the present invention uses a sensor design whereby both measurement and reference sections of the element are held within substantially the same environment, such that all changes in the fluid are common to both measure and reference sections, except for the thermal conductivity properties of the fluid itself. This allows for common mode rejection of background noise, thus enhancing the performance of the sensor.
  • the preferred embodiment of sensor comprises an inverted cup-shaped housing 1 having an open end located on a base member 2.
  • a tubular shroud 3 is located within the housing 1 so as to form an annular space 4 between the outer walls of the shroud 3 and the inner wall of the housing.
  • the shroud 3 is shorter than the height of the housing 1 and is open topped.
  • Fluid to be monitored is introduced into the space 4 through an inlet port 5 in the housing and is exhausted through an outlet port 6 from the closed end of the housing 1.
  • the closed end is shaped so as to promote diffusion of some of the fluid flow into the interior of the tubular shroud through its open end 7 which is spaced from the end of the housing 1.
  • a diffusive element 8 may be present to more precisely control the diffusion rate of the fluid through the open end of the shroud 7 and hence minimise any residual flow effects.
  • a sensing module 9 is located within the tubular shroud and electrical connections 10 to the module 9 are achieved through an aperture in the base member 2.
  • the fluid in the space 4 has its temperature maintained stable by means of a heater 11 which is shown as being located in the exterior of the housing in the region of the space 4.
  • a temperature sensor 12 is provided for monitoring the temperature of the fluid into space 4.
  • the housing 1 is designed to pre-heat the fluid, if required, maintain a uniform temperature and to provide a flow environment which is substantially diffusion driven by the time the fluid reaches the sensing module 9.
  • the sensing module consists of a disc 13 mounted at a defined height from a base 14, which is also maintained at a stable temperature.
  • the disc 13 is held within a cylindrical oven, whose symmetry further enhances the common mode environment between the measure and reference sections of the disc.
  • the sensing element is shown as a thick film printed disc 13 containing measure and reference sections 15,16 (identical platinum resistors) mounted on a common planar platform in the form of a ceramic substrate 17, but could equally well be composed of multiple elements, a thin film structure, precision resistors, thermistors or other thermal elements.
  • Thermal breaks 18 are provided in the substrate between the measure and reference sections 15, 16.
  • P M is the power dissipated through thermal conductivity through the fluid for the measure section
  • P R is the power dissipated through thermal conductivity through the fluid for the reference section
  • A is the surface area for the measure and reference sections of the disc (half the area of the disc)
  • T D is the temperature of the disc (both measure and reference sections)
  • T B is the temperature of the base
  • x is the distance between the measuring element and the base
  • d is the step height in the base.
  • the distance x is kept small compared the disc radius to enhance the sensitivity by the thermal conductivity losses through the medium to the base and to maintain a small diffusion volume.
  • the step height d should be sufficient to provide the required sensitivity, whilst still maintaining a similar environment to that experienced by the measure section.
  • Fig.3 illustrates measurements taken using the above embodiment with platinum resistor tracks printed on an yttria stabilised zirconia disc with thermal slots present.
  • the graph shows that the signal (power difference) is proportional to the hydrogen concentration for a hydrogen/nitrogen gas mixture. Since the thermal conductivities of pure hydrogen and nitrogen gases differ substantially (hydrogen being larger), increasing levels of hydrogen increase the thermal conductivity of the fluid mixture and hence the concentration of hydrogen in the mix can be established if the sensor has been calibrated using known standards.
  • the open structure above the disc and small diffusion volume beneath the disc allow a quick inter-change time when the fluid composition changes and hence a fast flush time.
  • This principle could be used with multiple measuring and reference elements in order to obtain an averaged signal and the measurement itself could take place as a steady state measurement or with a changing temperature and/or distance of the disc from the base with time and could be used with heat being added, such as by a resistive element or with heat being taken away, such as with a Peltier cooler.
  • a similar result could be obtained if the measure and reference sections of the disc were held at the same temperature above a flat base, but with the two corresponding halves of the base held at different temperatures.
  • An alternative embodiment could also be made with the two sections of the disc held at different temperatures with a flat or stepped base maintained at a controlled temperature in order to create different thermal gradient between the measure and reference sections of the disc and the base. This could also be achieved using multiple elements and/or in the steady state or time domain.
  • the sensing element could also be run as a Wheatstone bridge.
  • the preferred embodiment could be used as before, but this time, two external resistors could be used to create a full bridge.
  • the measure and reference sections of the disc make up one arm of the bridge and the external reference resistors the other arm.
  • a full Wheatstone bridge could also be printed onto the disc with the measure and reference resistors arranged either on quadrants of the disc or on each half.
  • the current flowing in the bridge causes the disc to heat up above the ambient temperature.
  • the temperatures of the measure and reference sections of the disc are no longer identical and will be related to the thermal conductivity losses through the medium to the base.
  • the output voltage signal which is related to the difference in temperature between the measure and reference sections of the disc is also therefore related to the thermal conductivity of the medium.
  • Thermal leaks between the two half sections will reduce the sensitivity and can be minimised by selection of a thin substrate material with low thermal conductivity and the use of thermal breaks.
  • the Wheatstone bridge could be run in constant voltage, constant current or constant resistance mode. It could be also run in a modified Wheatstone bridge mode, where the extra power applied to the measure and/or reference elements to maintain a fixed voltage offset could be used to determine the thermal conductivity of the medium.
  • the Wheatstone bridge could be run in direct current mode or alternating current mode with or without synchronous detection.
  • the measure and reference sections could also be held at fixed temperatures or be allowed to vary their temperatures and/or distance from the base with time.
  • the equivalent measurement could be made using separate measure and reference elements rather than being on the same disc and using alternative thermal sources and/or detectors.
  • Another alternative arrangement would be to provide heating to the disc substrate via a thick film printed resistor or resistors and use a low power thick film printed Wheatstone bridge, electrically insulated from the heater resistor(s), to sense the localised thermal differences between the measure and reference sections due to the thermal conductivity losses through the medium.
  • a bridge could also be designed with a deliberate imbalance in resistances used for the measure and reference sections so as to create a temperature difference between the measure and reference sections and a flat or stepped base base.
  • the imbalance in resistances could also be used to minimise any temperature difference seen between the measure and reference sections where the distances to the base differs. This would help increase sensitivity and common mode rejection.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • Biochemistry (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Immunology (AREA)
  • Pathology (AREA)
  • Investigating Or Analyzing Materials Using Thermal Means (AREA)
  • Investigating Or Analyzing Materials By The Use Of Electric Means (AREA)

Claims (12)

  1. Sensor zum Bestimmen der thermischen Leitfähigkeit eines Fluids, umfassend ein Fühlermodul (9), angeordnet innerhalb eines Gehäuses (1) mit Einlass- (5) und Auslassanschlüssen (6) für ein im Test befindliches Fluid, das Fühlermodul (9) umfassend eine Bezugsbasis (14) und ein davon beabstandetes Fühlerelement (13) mit Mess- (15) und Bezugssektionen (16), wobei die Mess- und Bezugssektionen innerhalb im Wesentlichen der gleichen Umgebung gehalten werden, außer dass sich im Gebrauch ein thermischer Gradient zwischen der Messsektion (15) und der Basis (14) von einem thermischen Gradienten zwischen der Bezugssektion (16) und der Basis (14) unterscheidet, der Sensor aufweisend Mittel (10) zum Bereitstellen von elektrischer Leistung und zum Steuern jeweiliger Temperaturen der Mess- (15) und Bezugssektionen (16) relativ zu der Basis (14) und Überwachungsmittel zum Überwachen jeweiliger an die Mess- und Bezugssektionen angelegter Leistungen, um ein Signal zu erzeugen, das eine Differenz zwischen den Größen der an die Mess- (15) und Bezugssektionen (16) angelegten Leistungen anzeigt, die aus der thermischen Leitfähigkeit durch das Fluid resultiert.
  2. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, enthaltend Mittel zum Halten der Mess- (15) und Bezugssektionen (16) auf der gleichen Temperatur über der Temperatur der Basis (14), wobei die Mess- (15) und Bezugssektionen (16) in verschiedenen Distanzen von der Basis (14) unter den Sektionen angeordnet sind.
  3. Sensor nach Anspruch 2, wobei die Basis (14) eine gestufte Basisoberfläche ist.
  4. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, wobei die Basis (14) eine ebene Basisoberfläche ist und eine Temperaturdifferenz zwischen einen Bereich der Basis unter der Messsektion und einem Bereich der Basis unter der Bezugssektion beibehalten wird.
  5. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, wobei das Überwachungsmittel eine Wheatstone-Brücke enthält, dessen Ausgang das erzeugte Signal bildet.
  6. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, enthaltend ein Diffusionselement (8), das für Verwendung zur Steuerung der Fluid-Diffusionsrate auf das Fühlerelement (13) geeignet ist.
  7. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, wobei das Fühlerelement (13) eine gedruckte Dickfilmscheibe ist, auf der Mess-(15) und Bezugswiderstände (16) gedruckt sind.
  8. Sensor nach Anspruch 7, wobei das Fühlerelement (13) ein Substrat mit einem Substratmaterial niedriger thermischer Leitfähigkeit enthält.
  9. Sensor nach Anspruch 8, wobei das Fühlerelement (13) mit thermischen Trennungen (18) zwischen den Mess-(15) und Bezugssektionen (16) versehen ist.
  10. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, wobei das Fühlerelement (13) ein Dünnfilmelement ist.
  11. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, wobei ein Thermistor oder Peltier-Kühler für die Mess- (15) und Bezugssektionen (16) des Fühlerelements (13) verwendet wird.
  12. Sensor nach Anspruch 1, wobei mehrere Mess- und Bezugssektionen in dem Fühlerelement (13) bereitgestellt sind.
EP07251159.5A 2006-03-21 2007-03-20 Sensor für thermische Leitfähigkeit Active EP1837645B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB0605683.2A GB0605683D0 (en) 2006-03-21 2006-03-21 Thermal conductivity sensor

Publications (3)

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EP1837645A2 EP1837645A2 (de) 2007-09-26
EP1837645A3 EP1837645A3 (de) 2009-07-22
EP1837645B1 true EP1837645B1 (de) 2013-04-24

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US (1) US7753582B2 (de)
EP (1) EP1837645B1 (de)
CN (1) CN101042359B (de)
GB (1) GB0605683D0 (de)

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0605683D0 (en) 2006-05-03
US20070223558A1 (en) 2007-09-27
CN101042359A (zh) 2007-09-26
CN101042359B (zh) 2012-05-23
EP1837645A3 (de) 2009-07-22
EP1837645A2 (de) 2007-09-26
US7753582B2 (en) 2010-07-13

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